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‘Nearly half of the patients walking into hospitals today are malnourished or obese,’ said Morrison Healthcare Vice President of Nutrition and Wellness, Peggy O’Neill.

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) October 21, 2013

Morrison Healthcare has announced it will participate in nutritionDay in the US, an annual event designed to address patient malnutrition in hospitals. The event, which features hospital malnutrition awareness and educational opportunities, will be orchestrated by Morrison Healthcare’s 1,200 registered Dietitians throughout the food service company’s 600-plus hospitals on November 7, 2013.

“Nearly half of the patients walking into hospitals today are malnourished or obese,” said Morrison Healthcare Vice President of Nutrition and Wellness, Peggy O’Neill. “We are proud of our nutritionDay in the US partnership and the strong platform it provides Morrison Healthcare Dietitians to help our hospital clients better understand patient malnutrition risks and have healthier patients during hospitalization, and after discharge. We believe this important program will positively impact in-patient cost avoidance, lead to opportunities to increase reimbursement, and reduce the risk for readmissions, all of which directly affect the fiscal health of the hospital.”

nutritionDay in the U.S. is part of a worldwide initiative, nutritionDay Worldwide. The mission of nutritionDay, which originated in Europe nine years ago, is to address the inertia that often characterizes how hospitals deal with patient malnutrition. Morrison Healthcare provides Clinical Nutrition Services above and beyond its traditional food service contracts. Morrison Healthcare’s Registered Dietitians oversee the day-to-day nutrition services of the patients it serves with food. The partnership with Morrison Healthcare has been established in an effort to help hospitals in the United States document and improve patient nourishment and related outcomes and associated costs.

“For more than 35 years, it has been well documented that 55-to 65 percent of hospitalized patients are malnourished or are at risk of malnutrition,” said National Project Coordinator/President of nutritionDay in the US, Gail Gewirtz, MS, RD. “The hospital management response to this issue is typically that ‘it’s not happening at their hospital or they need outcome data to justify nourishing their patients.’ nutritionDay does provide participating hospitals with their outcome data related to nutritional care. Patient malnutrition contributes to poor healing, increased morbidity and mortality, and increased costs.”

The first nutritionDay in the US took place almost 5 years ago on November 5, 2008, and the results were as disquieting as were earlier European results. The 2012 nutritionDay in the U.S. key findings were:

•More than 22% of patients lost more than 10 pounds prior to their admission to the hospital
•About 34% of patients ate less than 50% of their lunch on nutritionDay. Patients who eat less than 50% of their lunch on nutritionDay have been found to have a higher mortality rate.

About nutritionDay in the US
nutritionDay in the U.S. is a nonprofit organization formed as part of a global initiative, nutritionDay Worldwide, to improve patient and resident safety and quality of care by raising awareness and increasing knowledge about disease-related malnutrition. It is developed from and supported by the infrastructure of nutritionDay Worldwide and the Medical University of Vienna. November 7, 2013 will be the fifth annual nutritionDay in the U.S. and the ninth annual nutritionDay Worldwide. To date, nutritionDay Worldwide has reached 51 countries, 151,617 patients and 1,787 healthcare facilities including the United States. In addition, greater than 25 professional associations, from around the globe, support this initiative. The Medical University of Vienna, in Vienna, Austria, is the primary investigative site for nutritionDay Worldwide and the Primary Investigator/Worldwide Coordinator is Dr. Michael Hiesmayr, M.D.,Ph.D. Karin Schindler, Ph.D. is the co-founder of nutritionDay and Sigrid Kosak, is the Worldwide Project Manager. The nutritionDay in the U.S. team consists of clinicians and professionals experienced in the medical community for many years. Our goal is to support the clinicians efforts to minimize healthcare malnutrition in the United States through education and participation in nutritionDay. For caregivers in the U.S. and around the world, go to http://www.nutritiondayUS.org to sign up.

About Morrison Healthcare
Morrison Healthcare is a leading national food and nutrition services company exclusively dedicated to serving more than 600 hospitals and healthcare systems. Morrison’s hospital kitchens, restaurants and cafés feature socially responsible practices and exceptional guest experiences. The company’s wellness platform includes the latest in healthful eating and an understanding of behavioral change in food consumption. Morrison has joined the Partnership for a Healthier America’s (PHA) Hospital Healthy Food Initiative by committing 400 of its hospitals to improve the nutrition of patient meals and onsite food options. Morrison’s alignment with PHA will positively impact up to 41 million patients and 500 million hospital meals annually. The Atlanta-based company was recently named one of Modern Healthcare magazine’s “Top 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare in 2013”. The company is a division of Compass Group and has more than 1,300 registered dietitians, 450 executive chefs and 19,000 professional food service team members. Visit http://www.morrisonhealthcare.com for more information.